The Caribbean Digital & New Media Conference 2016 sought to dispel the myth that social media marketing is just a fad. The conference focused on digital marketing and social media management as an effective advertising tool. Kaymar Jordan in her keynote address examined a new business model which has utilized digital marketing and social media management resulting in a disruptive shift within the media industry. That business model is the media house, Barbados Today Inc.

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“Disruptive Technologies & their impact
on Journalism, Marketing and
Advertising: The Barbados Today Model”
By Kaymar Jordan
CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Barbados Today
Presented at The Caribbean Digital & New Media Conference 2017
February 17, 2016
Savannah Beach Hotel, Barbados
Mr. Ian Walcott, Partner Consultant of Global Expert
Systems, Professor Eddy Ventose of the University of the West
Indies, Dr. John Hunte, lecturer, University of the West Indies, the
Yellow Pages team, the Barbados TODAY team, sponsors, specially
invited guests, ladies and gentlemen.

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Introduction
I am here this morning to tell you the story (it is not a fable, it is a true-
true story of a six-year-old child who I have come to love as very my own.
This child started out with nothing more than a big heart and a sling this big
(makes the shape of the small), and because of his diminutive size, at first
when he entered the room, no one took him seriously --- Not the security
guard at the door, not the receptionist and especially not the roaring giants
upstairs in the boardroom, who laughed and mocked the so called upstart,
who they felt didn't stand a chance in hell of survival.
In fact, his arrival was greeted with one long Bajan chupse, followed by,
'where he think he going with that?'.
After all, they were the giants, they had been doing this thing for 40 odd
years and what they have forgotten, he would now have learnt – or so they
thought!
Equally comforting to them was the fact that customers had traditionally
come to them, especially on Sundays, and their product was now like what
economists call a “giffen” good – like bread and milk and cheese -
something that Bajans just can’t do without since the only way of knowing
what was going on in Barbados was through them.
However, this made them complacent and just as the biblical story in the
book of Samuel ends with Goliath of Gath, the giant Philistine warrior, being
defeated by the young David, the future king of Israel, the six-year old with
the small but powerful sling swung it and left them buckling with a big black
eye.
By now you should have figured out that the six-year-old I speak of, is
Barbados Today Inc., and the moral of story is one which not only our
competitors, but also you our valued clients, readers and viewers, should
sit up and take note of. It is, ‘beware the “disruptive” child’. And I am not
talking here about the Lord Evil type of disruptive child.

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Understanding Disruptive Technologies
It’s really the type of child that
Clayton M. Christensen, the Harvard
Business School professor spoke of.
The one with the sling, which is
really the “disruptive technology”, a
new emerging technology that
unexpectedly displaces an
established one.
In the Barbados TODAY context, the
printing press has been displaced by
online digital newspapers and
Internet-based technologies that
include Cloud Solutions and the
platforms that we have come to
know as Social Media.
It is that group of disruptive technologies that is also changing the way
business is done in virtually all facets of life.
In fact, since the early 2000s the world has been riding a technological wave
that is bigger than those that Chelsea Tuach likes to conquer down
Bathsheba. The disruptive wave has led to significant displacement in
tourism, manufacturing, services, and especially finance for persons like
myself who don’t ever want to see the inside of a commercial bank ever
again; those of us who abhor waiting in line; and can’t tell you the last time
we visited a travel agency to book a flight.
In fact, Christensen first used this term “disruptive technologies” in his 1997
best-selling book, entitled, “The Innovator's Dilemma”.
Back then, IBM was king and who would have thought that 20 years later,
not only is IBM not a reference for computer hardware, but an average Joe
or Jane can go online and construct his/her own computer and have it
shipped to Barbados by FedEx in less than a week.
The point I’m making is that the traditional giants are no more.
They have been replaced and or are being replaced by a new and disruptive
technological force.

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This raises a number of questions like:
 When did it start (late 90s with the Dotcom boom that eventually
crashed)
 How long is this wave of disruptive technologies likely to last?
 What can we expect next?
 How much more can we take?
 How many more Apps will there be?
 How much smarter will our phones become?
 How much smarter will our homes become?
 What is the overall impact on us as businesses, consumers, a
country, which is already grappling with economic stress and
urgently in need of reform?
 When this wave finally crashes, what will be the collateral
damage? And who will survive?
Don’t look at me? Only God knows but hopefully our panel of digital
marketing experts can help us to better prepare for these pending realities.
But just to say at this point, based on my own experience in the world of
disruptive technologies, businesses need to prepare just as they would for
‘Kick Em Jenny’.
Not that we need fear the technologies as some have us do, or simply run
for cover, but we all need to develop the relevant response systems and
counter attack to ameliorate any losses or should I say possible extinction.
As Winston Churchill (late British Prime Minister) said: “Never let a
good crisis go to waste”. And what we have found, with the traditional
newspaper business currently facing extinction, is that more and
more people are gravitating online.
The impact on the printing press
Just last week, Britain’s The Independent announced an end to its print
newspaper operation after three decades, saying it will produce an online
edition only, making around 75 journalists redundant.i
The newspaper publishing group said the move would ensure a "sustainable
and profitable future" for the company which has been struggling with heavy
losses for years.
Therefore, the newspaper, which was launched in 1986, will print its last

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daily on March 26 while the last Independent on Sunday will be published
on March 20th. Guess our friends in Fontabelle are shaking all about now.
As owner of the Independent Evgeny Lebedev explained, “the newspaper
industry is changing, and that change is being driven by readers.” Yes, you
have to listen to your readers and customers!
He bought The Independent for £1 back in 2010 but has since pumped
around £60m of investment into the publishing group, including funding the
launch of the i in an attempt to attract a younger and wider audience. The
i, which has doubled its cover price to 40p since its launch, will remain based
in the Kensington, west London building, which belongs to The Daily Mail
and is where The Independent currently has its offices.
Thankfully, here in Barbados, our online subscribers don't pay a cent to
access our news and public information content. And why should they, when
advertisers already pay for their messages to be added to our publications,
based on our readership?
However, we are happy to see that the Independent has finally woken up
to the reality that we faced six years ago; which is that in this technological
era, all firms must adapt to the breakthrough innovations, which their
customers are using and gravitating towards.
After all, isn’t the purpose of being in business, to serve and meet the needs
of the customer?
As Christensen readily states, keeping close to customers is critical for
current success.
Just this week I met with an advertising client who initially ignored the
disruptive child. In fact, when we first met, he was adamant that he needed
to see his ad in the traditional paper and not only that, he felt online was
only a young people thing.
However, I’m happy to report that he, like countless others, is now seeing
the light and is now fully ready to commit his money to where his customers
are – online.

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Barbados Today – The Stats
So a bit on our numbers.
We have seen phenomenal growth over the last two years and can now
boast of:
- Over 110 000 Facebook fans, a similar number of email followers and
subscribers to our free epaper.
- Average weekly Facebook post reach of one million and an
engagement rate of over 100 000 people per week.
This really means that on average more than 100 000 people are liking,
sharing, commenting on our posts seven days a week, which adds up to
over five million per year people, also viewing the messages of our
advertisers.
In our presentation later on this evening, we will share more data on our
other Social Media sites, including our flagship epaper, which remains the
number one source of online news from Barbados.
In short, the shift has taken place in terms of where Barbadians get their
news and information from (bear in mind that there are 85,000ii smart
phones in Barbados, 150 000 Facebook accounts and 217 000 Internet
usersiii – that’s 75 per cent of the population representing both the young
and old demographic and one of the highest Internet penetration rates in
the world, according to the International Telecommunications Union.

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Implications for policy
At the policy level, our officials also need to make the shift in terms of
making Barbados a Free Wifi Zone, not only in Bridgetown but across the
length and breadth of this country. And this is urgent since it would not only
have a positive impact on business, but the society in general and the speed
of our decision-making.
Our businesses also need to step up their engagement, not simply by setting
up Facebook accounts that often become inactive but put themselves in a
position where their customers can find them and actually trade with them
online. Your employment practices also need to change and having a digital
marketer is a must!
We also need teach our children how to put the technology to best use for
personal and professional advancement, be it educational research, seeking
out opportunities for jobs; or stimulating innovation and creating new
applications to solve our everyday problems.
The long and short is as Christensen warns, even great firms with good
business practices can be significantly weakened unless they seek to
understand and adjust to patterns of innovation in their industries.
Thank you for your attention.
Invest today!
i See http://bit.ly/IndependentGoesDigital
ii See http://www.indexmundi.com/barbados/telephones_mobile_cellular.html Telephones - mobile
cellular: 347,000 (2012)
iii See http://www.internetworldstats.com/car/bb.htm